MO RN INGSID E C O L L E G E M ATC HDAY - O CTO B E R 2, 2 02 0
MUSTANG VOLLEYBALL A busy home and away weekend begins this evening for Morningside College. The Mustangs welcome defending Great Plains Athletic Conference champion Northwestern College to Allee Gymnasium and the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center. Head coach Jessica Squier’s team sports a 3-5 overall and 2-3 league record. The Raiders, coached by Kyle Van Den Bosch, are 3-0 overall and one of three conference unbeatens to date (1-0), joining Concordia University and the University of Jamestown.
MUSTANG MARKS Mside started a three-match span this week Sept. 30, by spoiling Briar Cliff University’s hopes of evening the season series, picking up the win in straight sets at the Newman Flanagan Center, with scores of 26-24, 25-21, and 25-22. The Mustangs totaled 49 kills in the match, led by senior outside hitter Krista Zenk with 16 and junior outside hitter Kaelyn Giefer with 13. Another upperclasswoman outside hitter, senior Caitlin Makovicka, hit .438 to lead the team in the efficiency column, posting nine kills and two errors in 16 attempts. Zenk’s 16 with two errors in 34 attempts weighed in at an impressive .412 percentage. Giefer hit .375 with just one error in her 32 attempts. Junior setter Sabrina Creason took 38 of the Mustangs’ 43 assists. “I’d say confidence levels are rising,” explained Squier when asked about the impressive jump in hitting efficiency. “We have adjusted where we want the ball in relation to the net, and that has helped a lot with our hitters hitting around the block.”… While the Mustang block still isn’t producing as the coaching staff would like, the rest of the defense works to extend points and get the offense opportunities to score. Leading those efforts at BCU, in her white libero jersey, was junior defensive specialist Kayla Harris totaling 16 digs. Senior defensive specialist Ashley Boer and Zenk shared top honors among the ranks in black jerseys, each with nine digs. “We were aced seven times, but the rest of the night we were passing two or three rated balls that allowed Sabrina to jump set a lot,” Squier stated while reflecting on the Mustangs’ passing … A trio of individuals continue to represent the program on the GPAC’s statistical top five. Zenk (4.2 kills per set) and Harris (6.0 digs per set) are first, and Creason’s 11 assists per set are third-highest … Morningside concludes its week with a trip to Dakota Wesleyan University for a rematch against the Tigers Sunday,